'Blue Like Jazz' Author Speaks at Westmont
New York Times best-selling author Donald Miller hosts a two-day workshop at Westmont June 8-9 to help people understand and plan their lives. Tickets to the Storyline Conference, which is sponsored by Westmont Impact, are $199 to $299 per person and available through www.westmontimpact.org.
Storyline, based on Miller’s New York Times best-selling book “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years,” is an intimate conference that walks registrants through the steps of writing a plan for their lives using the elements of a story. The conference has expanded to Santa Barbara after selling out the previous two years in Portland, Ore.
“We’re excited to bring Storyline to Westmont and help people put their lives on a map so they can know where they’re headed,” says Donald Miller, “When you know your story, you’ll better understand your purpose, and you’ll live with greater efficiency and impact.”
Miller has also written “Blue Like Jazz,” “Through Painted Deserts,” “Searching for God Knows What,” “Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance,” “Father Fiction” and “To Own a Dragon.”
Ryan Bennett, director of annual giving at Westmont, hopes Miller’s visit will create an atmosphere on campus that helps attendees develop vision and passion.
“Storyline successfully orients individual ambition to focus on the strengths and passions God has placed in each person,” he says. “Through Storyline, we hope to help a community that has already made a tremendous impact on the world to be effective in telling stories.
“Storyline has something for everyone, students and recent graduates trying to figure out the plan God has for them, church leaders and their staff living their faith and guiding others to do the same, or those looking for more purpose and meaning behind the day-to-day activities of their lives.”
Profits from the conference will benefit Westmont Impact and student scholarships. Westmont Impact is a growing movement of 1,000 people coming together to support the ministry of Westmont College.
“We believe in the power of many people giving together for a common cause,” Bennett says. “We believe that Westmont fosters an environment where leaders not only learn but make an impact in the communities where they live after they graduate.”
Storyline is based on Logotherapy, developed by psychologist Viktor Frankl to help clients experience meaning in their lives. The conference will guide participants through Logotherapy to increase personal engagement, emotional wellbeing and productivity in meaningful work.
A film adapted from Miller’s semi-autobiographical book of the same name, “Blue Like Jazz,” opens April 13 in select theaters. The movie was completed following a record response on the website Kickstarter.com, which raised more than $350,000.